San Miguel Corp. unit San Miguel Food and Beverage Inc. started the construction of 12 mega poultry plants around the country to produce 960 million birds annually.
SMC president Ramon Ang said each poultry plant would require $100 million in investments or a total of $1.2 billion.
“It should be available in two years. So 2024 of June, that will be finished and operational,” he said.
Ang said the facilities were expected to produce “big birds” that weigh around 2 1/2 kilograms each.
“The variety available today, we call that big size. We produce that because there is demand for that type of bird for chicken nuggets and other processed food,” he said.
San Miguel will put up the poultry plants in Davao del Sur; Sariaya, Quezon; Pagbilao, Quezon; Lucanin, Bataan; San Fabian, Pangasinan; Balayan, Batangas; Bulan, Sorsogon; San Ildefonso, Bulacan; Leganes, Iloilo; Malabuyoc, Cebu; Pagadian, Zamboanga; and Badoc, Ilocos Norte.
San Miguel expects the whole supply chain for the 12 facilities to generate one million jobs in plantations, feed mills, and poultry processing plants.
“We have already started that… The target is to be up and running 24 months from today,” Ang said.
SMFB posted an 8-percent increase in consolidated net income to P18.8 billion in the first half.
Consolidated revenues grew 17 percent to P172.1 billion, driven by gains in volume and pricing adjustment across the product portfolios of its beer, spirits and food divisions to mitigate the impact of input cost increases.
SMFB’s beer business reported consolidated revenues of P65 billion, or 20 percent higher than last year because of improved volumes and a price increase implemented in October 2021.
The beer’s international operations registered strong volume improvements, particularly in its Thailand, Indonesia, and export operations.
SMFB’s food business sustained growth from the first quarter and registered consolidated revenues of P84 billion, up by 16 percent over the prior year.
The spirits business continued its momentum as revenues jumped 14 percent year-on-year to P23.1 billion, led by a 9-percent increase in volumes and modest price increases.
SMFB’s animal nutrition and health and flour segments also continued to post strong revenue growth, with both volumes and prices posting double-digit increases.
The prepared and packaged food business remained resilient with moderate growth in both volume and price.
The poultry segment faced supply challenges because of erratic weather conditions, constraining its ability to meet a surge in food service demand as on-premise dining bounced back strongly.